


all the fishes in the sea

by AvaRosier



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Set during 3B
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 12:11:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4834835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AvaRosier/pseuds/AvaRosier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill: Hayden and Liam are trying not to do the secret star-crossed lovers thing, but a pair of gossipy busybodies have their way of putting things into perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	all the fishes in the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [laydensquad](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=laydensquad).



> title is from 'cough syrup' by young the giant.

Hayden stalked into school on Monday morning, angrily brushing raindrops off her black leather jacket. It seemed she was nothing but pissed off lately, but maybe that was partially because of the emotions flowing through the bond between her and Theo. Or maybe it was just the incredible clusterfuck her life had been lately. But hey, at least she could still show up at school, unlike Tracy and Josh, who had been reported dead far too long for their surprise return to be the tiniest bit believable.

 

Liam was at his locker, poking around with no purpose which told her he was waiting for her. The last thing she wanted was to rehash the same damn argument with him about her staying with Theo and their…pack…whatever the hell you wanted to call it. She dropped her bag against the wall with a thud as she reached up and slid the tumbler around, each loud click seeming to echo in her ears.

 

“I’m not in the mood, Liam.” She muttered, staring straight ahead at the stacks of notebooks before her. It’d be hard to focus on her classes when she’s basically a fucking zombie and she has no clue if her current ‘alive’ status was temporary or not, but she’s going to make her best effort.  Liam sighed dramatically.

 

He probably wanted to ask her if she’d been behind the public library last night, where the news this morning had announced a body had been found. She hadn’t, and she really didn’t want to deal with the logical assumption that Theo had been involved. It was hard enough dealing with his attempts to ‘train’ them while keeping Josh from getting his throat torn out again and Corey from breaking down or Tracy from dissociating. At least Theo had grudgingly agreed to make sure Tracy was eating during the day.

 

She picked up on her name being spoken down the hallway.

 

“…that Hayden chick…” Hayden refocused her hearing, casting a surreptitious glance over her shoulder. She recognized the guy from her Honors Bio class…Trevor or Travis. The girl he was talking to, she had seen before walking around the school with him and holding hands. Olivia. Definitely Olivia.

 

“…don’t know where that chick gets off correcting me in class. Maybe if she were less bitchy she could get a date to Homecoming.” Her chest tightened and her vision dimmed. Olivia made a soft hum of tacit agreement while her boyfriend sniggered.

 

The Homecoming dance had been Saturday night and she hadn’t even gone, not wanting to participate in such a mundane teenage experience after everything that had happened. Also, she would’ve wanted to dance with Liam, and they weren’t supposed to be talking given how much their packs were at odds lately. Last Friday, she had corrected Travis when he’d tried to make a dumbass evo-psych argument for why certain things should be gender essentialist. 

 

Asshole couldn’t hack being corrected by a girl, so he’d been giving her dirty looks since then.  But his comment still stung.

 

“Hayden,” Liam was hissing from next to her. She ignored him and continued to count down from ten.

 

“Hayden, your spots are starting to show…and your claws.” _Great, just great_. She stared down at her fingernails where they had lengthened and roughened and were digging into the metal hard enough to leave marks.

 

“Fuck.”

 

Liam’s bicep pressed lightly against hers. “It’s okay, just slow down your breathing and use your anchor.”

 

“I don’t have an anchor.” She growled out, resisting the urge to slam her fist into the bank of lockers.

 

“What, Theo hasn’t gotten around to that in between the murd—” He quipped dryly. When Hayden growled at him again, Liam backtracked. “Okay, okay, sorry!”

 

He stayed pressed up against her side, nothing too obvious, but enough that she knew he was trying to help her. She wasn’t sure what he was murmuring, maybe Lacrosse stats? But it did the trick, she allowed herself to focus on that until she had nearly forgotten about Travis and Olivia.  But now that her anger had faded, all that was left was a profound sense of sadness. Theoretically, there was nothing physically stopping her from looking over at Liam, _actually looking at him_ , and smiling at him. Or grabbing ahold of his hand. Or being brave enough to kiss in right there in the hallway when surrounded by the curious eyes of their peers, giving them gossip material.

 

But the space between them had to be enforced because she had no clue what she might end up doing in the next few weeks. The future gaped open before her like a maw, and it was terrifying. There was a lack of free will in her choices thanks to the alpha-bond. But in plenty of other places, she did have a choice.  She might end up having to hurt Liam, fight him. Or one of his friends.

 

Hayden blinked away raw tears and quickly exchanged one set of textbooks and notebooks for another. “I need to go now. But thanks.”

 

She ducked into the nearest girls’ bathroom, well aware that she was probably going to be late for her first class. It was the last thing her GPA needed right now, but if she didn’t get her spots under control, she’d have more to worry about than getting into a good college. The hinges on the door creaked noisily as it swung open. Hayden knew it was Liam before she turned to meet his concerned stare.

 

“Hey, you okay?” He was worrying his bottom lip in between his teeth, making them redder than usual.

 

“I don’t know if you noticed, Dunbar, but this is the girl’s bathroom.” She informed him drolly. He snorted and nodded, a tad incredulously.

 

“First: I can read. Second: are we really going back to last names after everything we’ve been through?”

 

“It’d probably be easier if we could.” She admitted. They shared a blithe smile that made her feel as though they were two decades older than they ought to be.

 

“Yeah, it would. But I don’t want to go back to the way we were before.” Now that they were alone in there, she let her eyes roam freely over Liam’s body. He’d combed his hair more to the side rather than leaving it sticking out as usual. The style screamed Mason more than anything and Hayden giggled at the mental picture of Liam being his best friend’s guinea pig.

“What?” Liam stared at his outfit, trying to figure out what was so funny.

 

The small laugh had already buoyed her mood some. “Nothing for you to worry about, Dun- _Liam_.”

 

He stepped closer then, and for a moment the desire to turn to face him, to wrap her arms around him, was overwhelming. Instead, she kept gripping the cold porcelain of the bathroom faucet. Maybe Liam wanted to reach out and play with her hair, kiss her, or something. Instead, he licked his lips and pointed down at her hands.

 

“You did it: no more claws.”

 

She followed the line of his sight and what did you know? Normal nails with their cracked dark burgundy nail polish. “No more claws.”

 

One of his hands lowered until it was resting next to hers on the porcelain. Hayden allowed her pinkie to reach out and hook over the top of Liam’s. This small touch was going to have to be enough for now. The warning bell rang, prompting her to jerk away with an apologetic glance at Liam. She grabbed her bag and shouldered it, rushing towards the door.

 

Liam was right behind her as she reached it, paused, and decided ‘ _screw it_ ’. Hayden spun around and grabbed ahold of Liam’s biceps, stilling him so she could plant a hard, messy kiss on his lips. They were soft, the skin around them not quite clean-shaven enough to be smooth. Not so much a boy anymore.

 

Hayden didn’t give him a chance to kiss her back, or touch her. She just grinned at him and shoved her way out of the bathroom.

 

She was going to spend her day verbally eviscerating Travis in class.


End file.
